The San Clemente Dam was 95 percent full of sediment and at risk for failure during an earthquake, which would have sent more than a million tons of sediment and debris hurling toward 1,500 structures— including homes—downstream. When bulldozers crumbled the 94-year-old structure in 2015, it became the largest dam removal project in California history.
Removing the dam served a dual purpose: to dislodge a seismic hazard and restore the landscape, allowing endangered steelhead, lamprey and endangered red-legged frogs to return.
So far, it’s working.
LINK (via: KQED Science)
